My dad and I are flying LAX-IAD this wednesday and it's an international 777 and I was wondering what the chances were of being offered an upgrade at check in. The business class so far is pretty empty so I guess it just depends if UA offers it for this flight, do they usually?

I assume you and your dad are traveling on revenue tickets and not employee passes? If so, do either of you have Premier or higher status within Mileage Plus? If so, you may have a shot. United now offers unlimited complimentary upgrades on all domestic flights, meaning any empty United First and/or United Business seats will be filled with upgrades of Premier (or higher) passengers from United Economy. Even though it is an internationally configured aircraft, it's not an international flight (at least the LAX-IAD portion isn't), so the upgrade potential exists.

If you aren't Premier or higher, your chances of randomly being offered an upgrade are slim to none.

I have taken UA946 many, many times. On a Wednesday in November, it wouldn't suprise me if there are lots of UA First and Business seats. Good luck and have a nice flight!

"We hope you've enjoyed flying with us as much as we've enjoyed taking you for a ride."

It would be us paying for the upgrade. I've flown UA before and was offered to pay to upgrade to first at check in when there were empty seats, and no we don't have any status with UA but we did pay for the flight

Upgrades are few and far between for non elite members after they instituted complimentary upgrades for elites. Although there are a lot of business class seats, that route has a lot of frequent flyers. You are more likely to get offered upgrades to tourist destinations during vacation travelling season.

With that said, loads might be low enough since it is currently dead season. If they are low enough (sorry can't check for you), then it is a possibility. It never hurts to ask as well. You will see at the gate how many business seats are open and how many standby upgrades there are. A few of the names on the list might be employees traveling for business reasons, but other than that you will be on the bottom of the upgrade list.

If you have never designed an airplane part before, let the real designers do the work!

Quoting RoseFlyer (Reply 3):A few of the names on the list might be employees traveling for business reasons, but other than that you will be on the bottom of the upgrade list.

As long as economy is not sold out employees would be higher on this list than a non-elite revenue passenger that is not on full Y or has not paid for an upgrade.

General tips for upgrades. Dress nicely, treat people nicely, volunteer for a bump and ask for an upgrade as part of your compensation, don't have any expectations or entitlement attitude. But the odds of that making a difference is slim, unless you pay or have status upgrades are really really rare.

Just looking at the available seats for tomorrows flight (considering most of the elites have already cleared with their upgrade) there are a ton of seats available which is why I was thinking i might have a good chance

Quoting Dl767captain (Thread starter):My dad and I are flying LAX-IAD this wednesday and it's an international 777 and I was wondering what the chances were of being offered an upgrade at check in. The business class so far is pretty empty so I guess it just depends if UA offers it for this flight, do they usually?

What was the outcome? And how did you determine that business was pretty empty?